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Jay's been intrigued by Chip's seal pelt since the minute she first saw it.
Seals aren't too common at Featherbrook, but they do get a few sightings a year. When the news of seal sightings eventually reached them, her mom would always bring her and Ava to the rocky shores to watch them sunbathe.
Based on the knowledge she carries, the Viridis sea tends to have higher populations due to its colder climate. So for Chip to have a seal pelt, especially one with a vastly different colour pattern from those she's seen before, surprised her.
It's a warm brown, almost golden, pelt, with a few scattered spots near the edges. He always had it with him, whether it was tucked under his pirate coat, simply thrown over his shoulders, or wrapped around his waist during warmer days. He sleeps with it, tucked around him with the various other blankets and pillows that have found their way onto his hammock. She doesn't think she's ever seen him without it, similarly to Arlin's coin around his neck. He's always been sentimental in that way, keeping whatever is gifted to him close to his person.
Jay relates to him in a way; she keeps Ava's medal always on her, similarly with her golden pin and her mom's scarf at her waist.
Gillion wears his waist-wrap-thing (she still isn't sure what to call it), as well as his wrist cuffs, at all times apart from when he sleeps.
So while it initially raised questions, she got used to it, just like she got used to Chip's bandana and his collection of jewellery.
They've been travelling together for a few months now, so she's gotten to see how important Chip's seal pelt is. The first thing she learns, maybe a week after travelling with him, is not to touch it.
They had just picked up Gillion at that point, helping him get settled and teaching him how to run a ship. The temperature dropped from the previous day, so he had his pelt wrapped around his shoulders rather than around his waist. She too had switched to her navy coat, even debating adding her cloak to cover from the wind. Gillion didn't seem to mind, still dressed in the skin-tight black shirt they pulled him up with.
Despite what Jay previously thought was an impractical coat, Chip's pelt remained on his shoulders. It defies physics, considering the front doesn't clasp, simply draping perfectly on him. She thinks he must have had it enchanted to have it stay on him. Not to mention, instead of seeming weighed down (by the sheer weight of fabric), Chip instead carries himself lighter than without the pelt. Odd. Whatever, Chip himself is odd.
Gillion, who had breached the ocean less than twenty-four hours ago, was very curious about everything on the Big Chipper. She learnt pretty quickly that he liked to feel (and sniff?) things physically to determine how he morally felt about them. He's taken a liking to tracing the grooves on the wooden railing, leaving small scratches following behind.
He had pointed out the patterns on her mom's scarf and how it reminded him of the ones inscribed onto the trim of his armour. Jay added that she found it cute that her sun patterns contrast with his moon ones. This had led to him asking her about little things on her current person. She told him about her necklace, how her shoes were her sister's old shoes since Jay always had smaller feet. She told him that her Ferin pin was special to her, and that her bracelet was the first thing she got after her first paycheck. Where others often didn't care for her rambles, Gillion listened with attentive ears and wide eyes.
Gillion was in the midst of explaining the emblems on his waist-wrap when Chip emerged from below deck carrying various foods with his shirt.
"Gillion, since you never tasted oversea food, I gotta make you try these!"
"Oh! Hi Chip!" Gillion greeted, seeming unaffected by Chip's weird demand. "Did you sleep well?"
"I did! Okay, so see-" He joins where they're standing, "First, you gotta try an orange. There's a lot around this region, so you'll be set if you like them!"
Gillion tilted his head, "Oh, but I thought orange was a colour?"
"Yeah, but it's also a fruit."
"That does not make sense, fruits and colour are very di-"
"Dude, just eat the thing."
While reaching for the orange on Chip's outstretched hand, Gillion's eyes landed on the pelt adorning the other's shoulder. His eye lit up with recognition.
"You also have seals up here?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, they visit sometimes?"
Gillon’s hand curiously reached for the soft pelt. Chip's eyes followed Gillion's hand and quickly grabbed his wrist. "No touching that. Sorry, Gillion"
"Oh! No, that is okay, my apologies," he deflates a little, tucking his hands back in his lap.
"It's fine, you didn't know. Anyways, the orange-"
And just like that, the air goes back to normal. Chip offers snack after snack and laughs at the different faces Gillion makes. They find out he likes citrus but isn't a fan of parmesan cheese. She recalls him making a scrunched-up face at the smell alone, scooting away from where Chip was holding it out.
Since then, everyone’s kept their hands to themselves when it comes to Chip’s pelt. Despite how soft and warm it seemed, neither Jay nor anyone else had ever touched it. The closest she got was if Chip was giving them a hug, and it happened to brush against her. Ollie, bless the boy, tried petting it while Chip was explaining something to Gillion, and Jay had to pull him aside and explain that he can’t touch his Captain’s pelt. Gillion did similarly with Earl, stopping him from touching it despite the old man’s grumbles.
While Chip is a naturally touchy person, not minding when others touch his shoulders or play with his bracelets, the one thing that's off limits is the seal pelt.
Today started normally: she woke up last, Gillion already training on the deck, and Chip hogging their shared bathroom. Her arms gained goosebumps when she pulled the blanket off, surprised by the cool air in their quarters. She really needs to start telling Chip to close the window at night. How do they even sleep when it's this cold?
Nevertheless, she pulls the blankets off and tugs her slippers on. She makes her way to her wardrobe, picking out a simple pair of brown pants and a long-sleeved blouse. She grabs the edge of the sliding curtain and pulls it closed around her sleeping area. She had installed it fairly recently, liking the option of being able to change next to her dresser rather than waiting for Chip to finish his ridiculously long morning routine in the bathroom.
Changing out of her nightgown, she quickly buttons her blouse and ties her belt before opting to add a chest corset last minute. She grabs her hairbrush, sitting back down on her bed to undo her braid that’s come undone in her sleep. Dextrous hands weave her hair into a French braid that starts from the back of her head, finally tying it off with a teal ribbon. She decides to put on a blue necklace with a boat that Chip had gifted her, on top of her regular choker. After struggling to settle on which earring she wants to wear, she selects a set of dangling beaded earrings that resemble blue jay feathers, a gift from her mom. Lastly, she wraps her mom’s scarf around her head like a bandana and clips it in place with her family pin.
Chip is somehow still not done with his morning routine despite Jay having time to fully dress herself. She can hear water splashing occasionally, meaning he's most likely taking a bath (that aspect she's thankful for) and will spend another half hour to an hour in their shared bathroom. Whatever, she'll just have to go to the lower deck bathroom and hope Earl isn't using it.
She makes her bed and folds her nightgown on her dresser before pulling the curtain back.
Right before she heads for the door, her eyes catch on Chip's pelt sprawled across the hammock. The morning sun slipping through the window reflects on the soft fur, making it appear golden.
It looks so, so incredibly soft.
Her eyes dart between the pelt and the closed bathroom door, hand twitching at her side. Maybe she can just...pet it quickly. She won't pick it up or anything, just wants to feel how soft the fur is. She keeps an ear trained on the bathroom door as she raises her hand to the pelt.
When her hand makes contact, she almost gasps at how incredibly soft it is. She's touched a chinchilla before, and even that isn't as soft as this.
A thud from the bathroom makes her jump, followed quickly by Chip, only covered by a towel around his waist, storming towards her. He grabs the pelt rather quickly, snapping, "don't touch it!" before storming back into the bathroom.
She's left stunned, hand hovering just above where the pelt used to lie. She would have been a bit flustered if it weren't for the fact that Chip snapped at her so suddenly. How did he even know she touched it? It's not like she's bad at being stealthy; she knows for certain she was being quiet. Besides, she’s more perceptive than he is, she would have known if she was making too much sound.
Okay, maybe she was an asshole for touching pelt, but why the hell does it even matter? They're friends now, shouldn't Chip trust them with a single seal pelt?
It hits her an hour later when she's cutting oranges for Earl in the kitchen.
Chip knew she had touched the pelt despite being completely out of sight.
Chip felt her touch the pelt.
Oh my Gods, Chip is a selkie.
Okay, maybe she shouldn't jump to conclusions, but it would make more sense than if he weren't a selkie! While she never actually saw him shift between forms or happened to see a seal when she couldn't find Chip, everything else clicks together. The way he almost never lets his pelt out of his sight, the way he's overly protective of it to the point of not letting it be touched, or even the fact that the pelt is fully intact, no hints of an arrow or sword that would have been used to kill a seal.
She's surprised it took her this long to figure it out, honestly. She just kind of chalked it up to Chip being weird. Selkies aren't common either; from the few books she's read, they're a small population, more often found in the Viridis sea due to its colder waters. They stay close to family, so it’s usually easy to point out when an entire group of people have seal pelts. But Chip's an orphan with nothing connecting him to the northern sea.
The more she thinks about it, the more she feels like an ass for touching his pelt.
Even with her limited knowledge, she knows selkie's pelts are immensely significant to them. It's an extension of their soul, literally part of their identity. She knows well about the tales of sailors stealing selkie pelts to landlock them; it's no wonder Chip's protective of his.
She drags a hand over her face, forgetting she was cutting us oranges, until she gets juice in her eye. "Fuck- ow!"
Earl tosses a wet towel to her head, and she barely catches it with the hand not holding her eye. "Thanks Earl..."
The rest of the day, she tries to close enough to start a conversation, but sly, sly Chip manages to weasel himself away from whatever task she tries to join him on. Bastard. Okay, maybe he's right for once, but she wants to apologize, and he's making it very difficult to do so.
When the sun finally sets, Jay thinks that maybe she can finally corner him in their sleeping quarters. Unfortunately, she finds him asleep in his hammock with his pelt.
She sighs, not wanting to make herself more of an asshole today by waking him up for no reason, and decides to just go about her night watch. She chooses her wool-lined cloak, knowing how fast the temperature drops on the sea after sunset, and bids Gillion good night.
Her shift is boring; most night shifts are. There's nothing to keep her occupied on the vast sea, so she's taken a habit of doing some sort of craft to pass the time. Today, she's finally fixing the hole in one of her shirts that got caught on a doorknob.
The steady sounds of the waves and rhythmic weaving of needle through fabric help clear her head after the rough start of her day. She's got a million questions for Chip circling in her mind: What kind of seal are you? Did you come from the Viridis sea? Does anyone else know you're a selkie?
And the most prominent one: Why did you not tell us?
She tries not to let it hurt– she knows Chip was probably just unsure about how to bring it up. However, wouldn't that bring him and Gillion closer with their shared homes being the seas? Or maybe Gillion already knows, but she doubts it since he's given her no indicator of such (and Jay is very attentive; Gillion, on the other hand, is not great at masking his thoughts).
It’s not like she can chastise him. She doesn't really have room to talk herself.
She huffs, tying the final knot to her stitch before placing the needle back in her sewing kit. Good as new.
Only one hour or so has passed, not enough for a single night shift. She usually aims for four to five if no one stops her beforehand.
She folds her shirt back up, despite it going to the laundry anyway. She could do a round of the ship to ensure all the sails are in working condition, but she's pretty sure Chip already did that today in lieu of talking to her.
Maybe she could write a letter to her mom in the meantime? Or try to fix that bracelet that broke last week?
She rubs her eyes at a poor attempt to drive away her exhaustion. She's determined to finish her watch, especially since she didn't take any last night.
Her attention is caught by footsteps climbing the stairs, knowing automatically that they're Chip's from the gentle clacks of his boots.
"Hey," he greets her, sitting a few feet beside her. He's wearing his pelt over his shoulders, petting the edge with one hand.
"Hey," she parrots back. "Did you get woken up? Nightmare?"
He shakes his head, "Nothing like that, just woke up and thought I should take the shift."
"You don't have to, I still have a few hours left."
"Then I'll keep you company"
Waves rock the boat between the hanging silence, both fidgeting. She goes to apologize when he interrupts her first.
"Sorry about this morning, I shouldn't have freaked out on you like that."
She furrows her brows at that. Chip is not the one who's supposed to apologize here. "No, I should be apologizing. Your pelt looked soft, but I shouldn't have touched it knowing you didn't want me to."
He opens his mouth, possibly to retaliate, but ends up closing it. He fidgets with the paw of the pelt, shrugging his shoulders in an attempt for an answer.
She tries her best to approach the subject with thoughtfulness. "Can I...ask you something?"
He nods, but she can tell by the expression on his face that he already knows what she's going to ask of him.
"Are you a Selkie?"
He stills his fidgeting, tightening his hold on his pelt. He nods again, looking anywhere but at her.
"I...why?"
He turns to her, eyebrows furrowed. "What? What do you- I don't know, God decided so? What kind of question is-"
"No no, sorry-" she interrupts him. "Sorry, that came out very wrong– what I meant was, why didn't you tell us?"
"Oh. I...I don't know. At first, it was because I didn't know if I could trust you both so early, but then it just became a thing of not knowing how to tell you guys, I guess?
"Some people," he draws a shaky breath, "they still like to hunt us. You'd think it would have stopped since it’s illegal, but there are still quite a lot of people ready to spend thousands on a selkie's pelt. Especially... especially R.A.F.T. soldiers."
He stops her from protesting, putting a hand up. "I know you aren't with the Navy anymore, it's just-" he sighs, trying to put his thoughts together. "It's hard not to assume when I've walked past countless R.A.F.T. soldiers buying pelts – buying selkies – at black markets before. Most positive experiences, if not all, have been with the Black Rose. Arlin made sure my pelt was always on me, secured. I can thank him for that, I wouldn't have it with me today if it wasn’t for him..."
He huffs a chuckle, putting his head in his hands. "Sorry, I don't want to make you feel like me not telling you was your fault. You've both – you and Gillion – have been nothing but kind. I guess I'm sorry too, for not telling you."
She lays a hand on his knee, paralleling what he did a few moments earlier. "No I...I appreciate it Chip, seriously. I'm sorry that the way I found out was by touching it. That was shitty of me."
He nods, resting his hand on hers to let her know her apology is accepted.
They sit like that for a while, swaying alongside the waves. Her gaze falls on his face that's just barely illuminated by a lantern. Having the head of the pelt so close to his face, she notices how the freckles on his face match the darker spots on his pelt. She's surprised she didn't notice that sooner. Her eyes fall on his hands, which adorn the same spots as the ones on the paws of the pelt. She notices how the scars she'd seen on Chip are found in roughly the same spots on his pelt.
"Is it appropriate to ask what kind of seal you are?"
Chip laughs, and Jay's ears go red. Was that really insensitive? Shit- "Sorry I just ask because I've seen seals before in Featherbrook, but I've never seen brown seals-"
"It's fine, Jay, don't worry. I'm actually not certain? I don't remember my parents, so I had nothing to go off of. But back on the Black Rose, Finn mentioned that my pelt resembled that of a fur seal, not a 'true' seal."
"There's...a difference?"
"Fur seals are more closely related to sea lions than actual seals. Something about the ears and how we walk compared to regular seals. He also mentioned that based on my pelt's colour, I might be from warmer parts of the ocean."
"Oh, I see,"
She tries to eye the ears on the pelt, but she can't see much with just the light from the lantern and the moon. It's fine, hopefully he'll feel comfortable enough to shift so she'll be able to see the difference compared to the seals at Featherbrook.
"Does Gillion know?"
"No, but I'll probably tell him first thing tomorrow"
"I think he'd be thrilled to know there's someone else who's as connected to the sea as he is. Maybe make him feel less alienated."
Chip smiles ever so slightly. "Yeah, maybe."
They make small conversation until he eventually shoos her to bed and takes watch. They bid each other goodnight, and Jay sleeps better than she has in a while.
True to his word, Chip tells Gillion the next morning, and she wakes up to an excited Gillion declaring they all go for a swim together as soon as they find a beach. She agrees, of course, promising to find a nice secluded beach, hopefully before their next big town stop. Chip seems content with their reactions, going back to his normal affectionate self that bumps their shoulders in the kitchen and slings his arm around them.
Jay’s got herself an amazing crew.